The Resistance Front (TRF) terrorists on Thursday barged into a government school in the Eidgah locality of Srinagar and at point-blank with pistols shot dead the woman principal of the school and a male teacher. The killing of the two teachers has come in less than 48 hours of assassination of three civilians on Tuesday evening.
The Karachi (Pakistan) based TRF that is a frontal organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has claimed responsibility for the killing.
The killed principal has been identified as Satinder Kaur, belonging to the Sikh community, and teacher Deepak Chand was from Jammu and had joined the job about three years ago. His wife and a toddler daughter were residing in Jammu. Both had multiple bullet injuries.
Both slain teachers had on the orders of the government reportedly organized a flag hoisting ceremony on Independence Day that was on 15 August celebrated in all educational institutions across the valley.
There were no students in the school at the time of the terror attack.
Teachers, who were in the school at the time of the incident, said that at least three terrorists barged into the school at about 11.15 am and called the principal and the teachers out where they shot both at point-blank and escaped from there. Deepak Chand was seen lying in a pool of blood in the verandah of the school, while the principal lay dead in the compound. Both were rushed to the hospital where they were declared dead.
The Director-General of Police Dilbag Singh, IGP (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar and senior officers of the Army and CRPF reached the spot. The area was cordoned and a hunt was launched for the terrorists.
The incident has triggered widespread condemnation of the terrorists. The government has also come under criticism for not countering the free run of terrorists. Seven civilians have been killed in Kashmir in the past five days in separate incidents of terrorism.
The civilian killing spree has come at a time when union ministers were visiting J&K under the outreach programme of the central government.
Strongly condemning the “barbaric killing”, Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha tweeted; “A befitting reply will be given to the perpetrators of the heinous terror attacks on innocent people. The terrorists & their patrons will not succeed in disturbing peace, progress and prosperity of J&K UT”.
The J&K DGP said “These incidents targeting civilians are abhorrent…this is an attempt to spread terror and to divide the Kashmiri community. We are investigating these incidents. We are sure of exposing these terrorists…it will be done soon. This is being done at the behest of Pakistani handlers from across the border.TRF is run from Karachi. We will soon expose this nexus from across (the border). The victims were not affiliated with any group”, Dilbag Singh added.
Expressing shock at the incident, National Conference leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted; “Another set of targeted killings, this time of two teachers in a Govt school in Idgah area of the city. Words of condemnation are not enough for this inhuman act of terror but I pray for the souls of the deceased to rest in peace”.
PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti took the government to task while tweeting; “Disturbing to see the deteriorating situation in Kashmir where a minuscule minority is the latest target. GOI’s claims of building a Naya Kashmir has actually turned it into a hellhole. Its sole interest is to use Kashmir as a milch cow for its electoral interests”.
CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami described the killings as “most unfortunate and tragic and such barbaric incidents have no place in a civilised society”. “It is the responsibility of the whole society, including political, social, religious and other organisations, to come forward and condemn such barbaric incidents in one voice. Spilling the blood of innocents is not acceptable to us”.